Desire for Riches
1 Timothy 6

1 Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed. 2 And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things. Error and Greed 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, 5 useless wranglings[a] of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. 6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain[c] we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The Good Confession 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. Instructions to the Rich 17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. Guard the Faith 20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge - 21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

When I read this chapter today I came to the realization that my desire to be rich was taking me down a path of financial destruction. My family & I have been pierced through with many sorrows and are living under a heavy weight of financial bondage. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil and the greatest evil is idolatry. To try to serve God and mammon is impossible. Paul exhorts Timothy to be content with food & clothes and to let godly contentment provide great gain in his life. I really took that to heart today. HELP ME!! Lord, I want to lay down my desire to be rich, uproot the love of money and be content with food and clothes (maybe they will be cute clothes!!! ) Thank you Lord for my daily bread and help me to seek you first and serving you only!!

Mother's Day 2008

Mother’s Day 2008

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Proverbs 31:28

Thank you Jesus for such amazing children!! The gifts I received this year were gifts of the heart and what a blessing to my soul. To watch my children shine for Jesus, to watch them pour out their love, to see them worship, pray and exalt His name. To watch them rise up to new challenges and face them humbly and with nobility. WOW!!

My morning started with breakfast in bed prepared by my husband and three sons. This was followed by a special drawing from Noah and a homemade card declaring that he loved me and that I rocked!! I wonder where he got that?! Isaac had been hiding his gift for me for weeks, a tile trivet with the initials M & I for mom and Isaac. Ethan drew me a picture of a sunflower and delivered it with a big kiss.

Then to top it off Bethany & Bailey wrote a song, submitted it to the Star-Telegram MomSong contest and were one of 7 finalist. They presented me with their DVD, their lyrics, the newspaper article and an Itunes gift card for being a finalist. We watched the DVD and then they performed the live version. They are awesome!! If I can figure out how to post it on my blog I will, but that may take a while!!

Bethany, Bailey & Isaac are auditioning for a CAIA production so we sat around and watched their auditions, laughed, helped, and laughed some more. Maw Maw and Honey came by to go to lunch with the boys and everyone prayed for Maw Maw’s broken arm. She had a sore where the temporary cast was rubbing, after we prayed she said the pain was gone!! GO GOD!!

The girls and I headed to the last Jesus Culture meeting and were so blessed with more amazing worship, a do or die message and anointed prayer. God gave me the sweetest vision as a mother’s day gift and lit my heart on fire!! We hurried to Isaac’s tournament ballgame and came in during the heart stopping, adrenalin rushing inning. Ahead by 8 the other team was soon tying the score. The 6th inning and minutes left to play ahead by three, two outs and the other team brought in two runs. They needed two more to win the game, two boys on base and the batter up. Could our boys make the out, would the batter get on base? Four balls and three of them foul, last pitch and the batter was OUT!! We won the game 21-20!! It was a great victory for our boys and so much fun for moms and dads. Nan and Honey were worn out after the game and went home to rest!!

I could not have asked for a better Mother’s Day. To see my kids walking in their gifts, to see them lead, create, love, worship, pray. It was the best way for God to pat me on the back and say, “Well done, my daughter, you are leading them well!!”

JESUS CULTURE

JESUS CULTURE - Part 1

WOW!! What else can I say!! I guess I can say a lot. What a glorious four days!! Do I start with Thursday evening, or should I back up to Thursday morning? Okay, let me tell you about Starbucks. Thursday morning I was at Starbucks writing some notes for friends when a friend walked in with her son to meet with another friend of hers. We started talking and before you know it we were talking about the power of God, we were sharing glory stories and before to long we all had the glory of God shining through us. It was awesome!! I know God is up to something at that Starbucks because His glory is in that place!! I left knowing I had just had an encounter with the Holy Spirit and ready to walk with the Lord through the rest of my day.
Thursday evening Darrell, Bailey, Isaac and I went to the Jesus Culture launch. It was an amazing start with about 2 hours of unleashed worship. A Holy Spirit invasion!! It is amazing to me how passionate God is about us!! He so wants to invade us, to wrap Himself with our skin and truly live through us. It is like invasion of the body snatcher!! God is the ultimate body snatcher. On Thursday evening I had a taste, a sniff of the power of God. You know to really think about the fact that Jesus was a dead corpse laying on a piece of cold stone. No life surrounding Him, no warmth, just stale air, dirt and cold stone and then, the power of God!! WOW!! I really think God holds Himself at bay with us. If He were to truly unleash His power we would experience things like the transfiguration, the power of the resurrection and our youth renewed as death gives way to life. I am but a vessel for the Holy Spirit, a container for Him. I have been given the Spirit without measure and yet, I only experience a VERY small part of His glory in my life. It is no wonder the power of God knocks people off their feet!! God so touched me I felt His presence in the very core of my being. I could smell the anointing oil being poured out on me and the sweet fragrance of heaven, eventhough there was no physical annointing oil there. It was as if my senses were alive only to His Kingdom.

Fiddler on the Roof

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Yes God!

I grew up in a home with a swimming pool and concrete in the back and a tiny front yard. Therefore, mowing the grass took a total of 15 minutes and if I was in a hurry that included sweeping the sidewalk and drive. Needless to say, I did not enjoy yard work taking any longer than my allotted 15 minutes in the morning. After getting married and moving into our first home, a 900 sq foot house on 1/3 of an acre, mowing soon became a dreaded event, taking the good part of all day. Our second home was not much better having a terraced back yard. It was in this home that I heard God call me to gift my husband with a freshly mowed lawn when he returned home from work. Where I disliked yard work, he disliked it even more growing up on an acre lot he had the responsibility of doing weekly and alone. So marriage gave him the opportunity to have some help.
We had purchased a refurbished mower and it was in good working order, with one exception; there was a trick to starting it, a trick I did not know. After I heard my sweet Lord’s voice to go and mow the yard I argued for a good 15 minutes before I finally acquiesced. Putting on my yard clothes and heading to the garage I tried to get my attitude to one of submission and servant hood. I thought I had done a pretty good job of it until I spent 40 minutes trying to start the mower. Sweating, hot, grumpy and grumbling I was about ready to call a friend to come and start the mower for me. Many times I thought I could just go in the house and Darrell could mow when he returned home, but that would spoil the surprise and I would not be obeying. So, anger got the better of me. I told God if He wanted me to mow the lawn He needed to start the mower so I could do the job. I told Him it was not up to friend to get the mower started but HIM!! Guess what? The next pull it started. I am not advising you get angry at God if it gets hard, but passion brings a smile to His face.
I took a deep breath and started mowing, totally ignoring God, until I reached the terraced back yard. I turned to Him and asked, “God, what was that all about?” His reply to me resounded in my spirit and is a lasting impression in my heart to this day. He said, “Tomi, when I call you to something, it may not always be easy, it may be hard, it may be frustrating but I have called you and when you remain steadfast, passionate and pray I will make a way for you to accomplish what I asked of you.”
When God says, “Be still and know that I am God” then I am to be still and KNOW that He is God until HE tells me to move. “Wait upon the Lord and He will renew your strength,” can seem like an endless season. Yet, it is in the stillness and the waiting that we are renewed, we KNOW who our God is and we are able to walk and not grow weary, run and not faint and mount up on wings of Eagles. Lord, when the stillness is hard, teach me to KNOW You!! When the calling is confronted with obstacles teach me to trust, persevere and pray so that I may KNOW You and Your love for me. Put passion in my heart for You, Your ways and Your direction in my life. I want to live on fire for YOU.

SUCH A LOVE!

This is Jesus in His glory,
King of heaven dying for me.
It is finished! He has done it.
Death is beaten,
Heaven beckons me!!
Such a love exists for me!!

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Today, I am known!!

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Psalm 139:1-6 (NKJV)

God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I'm never out of your sight. You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can't take it all in! Psalm 139:1-6 (The Message)

To be known so intimately by the Creator of the universe, it overwhelms me. To be so loved and so adored, I can’t seem to take it all in. As a slave held in bondage, total darkness surrounded me, no hope for life or love. No way of escape from the task masters using whips and hatred to keep me in fear and despair. Suddenly, I am swept away in a current of love as my Rescuer lifts me out of the darkness and into His Light. My Savior, good, true, noble and just, covering me with His Love and releasing me from the shackles that bound me. Weeping turns to laughter, sorrow to joy and mourning to delight. Leaving the slave masters of Egypt and looking, hoping and waiting for the day I cross over into the Promised Land.

But alas, my Love knows that to enter now I would take with me the mindset, the fear, and the bondage of Egypt. So, I must trek through the wilderness, learning to rely on Him, His provision, His Love, His plans, and His ways. The journey seems unending, impossible and filled with tears, sorrow and pain. And yet, so begins a time of laughter, hope and change as it fills my life with His presence. The paradigm in my mind is beginning to change. I soon found I was learning to trust my new Master, trust His love, His ways and His direction. I began to understand I could trust Him to provide, to heal and to meet my need for comfort, love and acceptance. I found I too began to learn to love Him in return, to need to be in His presence and to give back honor, love, praise and passion. Soon the wilderness became a place of peace and solace; a place where I could recognize and see the Hand of God at work in the big and little areas of my life. The Promised Land was in view, was I ready to cross over? The question I was so sure was a resounding yes the moment I left Egypt did not sound so assured any longer. I knew I could not enter in my own strength or my own power and I was not about to go if He did not go with me. So I waited, and waited and waited. While waiting, my strength was renewed and my vision sharpened. He began to whisper, “prepare and consecrate yourself for in a few days you will cross over.” To be continued.....

Hearing the voice of the Lord

I am learning to love the many different ways God speaks to me. I used to think I had to get His word in my quiet time. If I did not hear Him when I had my Bible, journal and pen in hand then I did not hear the Lord. He has taken the time to truly expand my ability to hear Him and know when He is speaking to me no matter what method He is using.

I began to recognize Him in nature when I went on my HeartQuest. I had two of everything greet me on my fast day. He spoke to me all day in pairs and in twos. Even the rain came twice that day. He was giving me clues all day as to what He was speaking directly to my heart and double had great meaning that day.

Now, when I see something consistantly I see it as a sign post telling me I am on the right track. That Father is ordering my steps and I just passed the mile marker revealing where I am in my day. It is even becoming a game to see what He is going to show me next and how often He will open my eyes to see. For example, on my fast day I had two cardinals spend the day with me. Since then when I see a cardinal I stop and ponder for a moment God, His greatness and what He might be saying to me in that moment. Sometimes He says, "keep on keeping on," sometimes "I love you." The other day there were 3 cardinals in tha back yard and I heard the Lord say "increase". I have come to love nature, and the way Father uses His creation to confirm His word and works in my life. I wonder what He will be saying to me today?